Chapter 19 The Prefecture and the Dragon King's Ritual: My Wife is a Fairy
The prefectural government was bustling with activity, and the accountant even set up several sheds at the main gate to provide shade for people who came to register.
The carriage entered the mansion through the back gate.
When the accountant saw them, he stood up, nodded, and then went back to his work.
People in line would register, receive some rice or grain, and then leave happily to make room for those behind them.
The prefect was not in his residence; the yamen runners said he had gone to the seaside to lead the people in offering sacrifices to the Dragon King.
Bai Yan, who was skeptical of ghosts and gods, frowned and wondered if the prefect was neglecting his duties. At a time like this, why was he still doing these superficial things?
However, none of the people around him showed any signs of discomfort.
Hmm? Is this practice normal?
From any perspective, the ghosts greatly approved of, and even praised, the prefect's approach. On the surface, it stabilized the people's emotions, and on the surface, it strengthened the connection with the Dragon King, achieving two goals at once.
Bai Wulan was in the study in the backyard when the four quilt weavers were taken away to prepare their lodgings for the night. Di Ting, not wanting to listen to official business, followed along.
The steward of the prefectural government was a servant of the prefect, who was transferred to help manage the trivial affairs of the prefectural government.
Now, let's lead them to the study.
Butler Chen walked at the front. Despite the scorching sun, he felt a chill run down his spine. Was he getting old? The butler, in his thirties and in the prime of his life, wondered.
With three ghosts walking behind, it's normal to feel a bit cold.
Bai Yan's body was always prone to feeling cold, so he naturally didn't find it strange.
After the person was brought in, Butler Chen quickly withdrew, wondering whether he should go to the clinic to see a doctor.
The study door was not closed, and Bai Yan knocked on the door frame symbolically.
"You've arrived." Bai Wulan looked up from the pile of documents, glanced at them, and that was enough to greet them.
"Father, this is Manager Jiang, and her two brothers. Their family has excellent medical skills."
“Your mother already said so, please sit down.”
The chairs and small couches were piled high with documents. Where could one sit?
Jiang Yuzhi thought to herself, "President Bai really doesn't stand on ceremony."
The Black and White Impermanence felt uncomfortable whenever they saw documents, recalling the days when they were controlled by official duties in the underworld. They made an excuse to leave, not forgetting to leave a small paper figure in a corner.
With only two people and a ghost left in the room, they decided not to sit down.
Bai Yan opened one of the books beside him, and the first thing he saw was a request for food aid. He opened another book, which was a request for border troops to support the suppression of the people. He opened yet another book, which was a request to resign from his post and ask that the memorial be delivered to the emperor.
Each one is more outrageous than the last.
Jiang Yuzhi wanted to see the Dragon King, but thought it would be better to report this to the person in charge.
“If you have nothing else to do, go help the accountant. He’s short-staffed. People from other prefectures and counties can register their place of origin to receive three days’ worth of free grain. After that, they can exchange it for grain at the grain shop based on the hours they work cultivating the land. You can go and learn some social skills from the accountant.” Bai Wulan finished speaking, then looked up at Jiang Yuzhi, who seemed to be lost in thought, and added, “You go too.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuzhi finally expressed her thoughts, "President Bai, I want to go to the beach to watch the Dragon King Festival."
Bai Wulan paused, a hint of admiration in her eyes. She glanced at her son with disdain and replied, "Alright, go with Bai Yan. How to appease the people is an important lesson this boy needs to learn. You can call Yao Yao 'Auntie' and me 'Uncle'."
"Thank you, Uncle."
Jiang Yuzhi leaned down slightly and tugged at Bai Yan's sleeve, signaling him to follow.
He really didn't understand why his father looked at Bai Yan with that kind of gaze, so he ran away happily.
He genuinely didn't believe in gods or ghosts, but then he thought, "My wife can pull out the small crossbody bag from her cloak, and she's still carrying it on her shoulder... wait, something seems off."
Could it be that what's written in the storybooks is true? Although he's read a lot, deep down he still doesn't believe it.
Even though being close to his wife would make him feel much better, he didn't believe the prescription given by the second brother of the Jiang family. He just felt that his wife had some kind of secret medicine or Gu poison that couldn't be passed on to outsiders.
I dare not think about it too much.
The beach is not far away; it's only a 15-minute walk.
The prefect was very conspicuous; he was wearing a purple official robe and stood on a makeshift wooden platform, on which was also a censer.
An incense burner and offerings were placed on top.
The offerings were handicrafts: small straw dragons, dragon-shaped paper cutouts, and pottery jars carved with dragon bodies...
They're not worth much, but they were all made by the people themselves.
The men, women, and children standing below the stage clasped their hands together, their expressions devout.
The prefect stood with his hands behind his back, waiting for his opportunity.
It seemed different from what he had imagined. Bai Yan stared at the unexpected scene before him.
They stood at the edge of the crowd, unnoticed.
The wind is picking up.
There was a brief moment of agitation in the crowd, but it quickly subsided.
The prefect picked up a cup of wine, poured it towards the sea, lit three sticks of incense, raised them above his head, closed his eyes, and muttered incantations, presumably in prayer.
As soon as the three incense sticks were inserted into the incense burner, Jiang Yuzhi saw a huge, dragon-like phantom leap out of the sea, only to vanish without a trace the next moment.
Immediately afterwards, the spirit, or rather the faith, within the offering followed the phantom, leaving behind objects that all dimmed in Jiang Yuzhi's view.
Bai Yan's pupils dilated; he seemed to want to say something, but he was as if he had lost his voice.
The ritual ended, but the wind didn't stop; in fact, it seemed to be getting stronger.
A storm is brewing.
A few raindrops landed on the face of a young woman sitting on her father's shoulders. She wiped her face in a daze and asked, "Dad, is it raining?"
"You got seawater on your skin... Honey! It's really raining! Come on, let's go home and tell your mother!"
"It's raining! It's raining!"
"Thank the Dragon King, it's really raining!"
"Quickly, quick, go home and collect some rainwater, may the Dragon King protect us!"
After an unknown period of time, the rain finally poured down in a refreshing downpour.
As the crowd dispersed, the prefect on the platform, though puzzled, walked down with a smile, only to encounter two people standing dumbfounded in the rain.
"Mingze, I heard you were coming a few days ago. What bad timing, it's raining, hahaha."
“Mr. Ouyang, this is my good friend, surnamed Jiang.” Bai Yan came back to his senses and introduced Jiang Yuzhi to Ouyang Guang.
"Greetings, Prefect."
"Alright, alright, all good. I'll head back to the prefecture first. You two shouldn't get soaked in the rain, with Mingze's frail health."
"Mr. Ouyang, I'm fine." Bai Yan didn't hold it against him because he was happy.
"Okay, you're good. I'm leaving now, otherwise your dad will say I'm slacking off again."
Ouyang Guang was practically jumping for joy in the rain; this man in his forties was as excited as a child.
Bai Yan pulled Jiang Yuzhi by the wrist and led her to the nearest eaves to take shelter from the rain.
Silence.
Bai Yan didn't know how to start the conversation, while Jiang Yuzhi was thinking about how she could see that dragon again.
"Tamaori, do dragons really exist?" His gaze darted through the heavy rain, finally settling on the sea surface splattered by raindrops.
"What do you see?" Logically speaking, Bai Yan shouldn't be able to see anything; he's just a mortal possessed by the Sheji Tu (a mythical map of the land and its people). But it's strange that he's asking this now.
Jiang Yuzhi did not give a direct answer.
"Maybe I'm hallucinating. Am I getting sicker?"
The rain did not subside.
"How could that be? Perhaps... you'd like to see something different?"
The raindrops pounded heavily on Bai Yan's pounding heart. His intuition told him that if he agreed, his world would undergo a complete upheaval.
Bai Yan nodded subconsciously. This was an opportunity, a chance to truly integrate into the world of his wife.
"Okay, I'll take you there."
Jiang Yuzhi seemed to be possessed at this moment, perhaps infected by the enthusiastic crowd, wanting to watch the magnificent Dragon King emerging from the sea with Bai Yan, and also wanting him to know the real reason why this rain fell.
Jiang Yuzhi's guilt had been building up for a long time, and she no longer wanted to hide it from the sincere man in front of her. Bai Yan treated her with genuine affection, but she treated him as a tool to stabilize her fortune.
Climb up the high wooden platform and stand in the best spot on the entire beach.
In fact, Jiang Yuzhi did not know how to lure the Dragon King out. She first followed Xie Bi'an's example and set up a barrier to avoid being seen by outsiders and causing panic.
Her nimble fingers shimmered with a faint, dark light, and Bai Yan could already sense the fleeting air currents passing through Jiang Yuzhi's fingernails, though he couldn't see them clearly.
The sound of the requiem bell never stopped, so Jiang Yuzhi simply removed the spell of the ghost-blinding and revealed the strangely swaying bell to Bai Yan.
What's this? So that bell from before was ringing the whole time. Bai Yan thought he was hallucinating, but every time he glanced at his wife's waist, he didn't see the bell moving.
It was somewhat of an accident. The restoration of part of the Sheji Tu (a map of the land and the state) was not very effective for Bai Yan, serving only as a self-deceptive act.
There were too many suspicious points about Jiang Yuzhi, so Bai Yan simply ignored them all, except for the occasional doubt that he was hallucinating.
Before Jiang Yuzhi could think about what to do next, the calm sea suddenly surged with huge waves, as if something was about to emerge from the sea.
A huge dragon head suddenly emerged, with half of its body reaching towards the wooden platform.
Jiang Yuzhi took two steps back in surprise, making sure to shield Bai Yan behind her.
The dragon head was two or three people tall, and its breath was warm and dry, without malice, as if it were identifying the person.
Bai Yan was speechless, his heart pounding wildly as he stared intently at the enormous creature before him.
The Dragon King is actually real.
So, with her amazing magic, is she really a celestial being from heaven?
Bai Yan's gaze slowly shifted to Jiang Yuzhi's profile, which was blocking his view, and his eyes gradually burned with passion.
"Turing? How did you split into two?" A deep, resonant female voice came from the dragon's mouth.
"It's all my fault. Is it because you shared your power with me that things have turned out like this?" Long Kuai cried out, his ferocious face revealing a hint of urgency.
“Sorry, we are not him. Turing… something did happen, but it shouldn’t be because of you.” Jiang Yuzhi guessed that Long was probably referring to He Ji.
“But you all possess the primordial aura of Turing.”
"Because something happened to him."
Long didn't want to believe it, but in fact, she was originally just a weak koi carp that had crossed the Dragon Gate. The fact that she was able to protect this sea area was because He Ji had given her a small portion of his power.
With the decline of the world's fortunes, the true dragon race has long since faded away, and no one knows where they have gone to recuperate.
The dragon brocade transforms into a dragon, defying the heavens.
He Ji deserves much credit for this.
When He Ji left the Jiang family, he headed west to avoid being hunted down.
Zuo Huai is a good place, a land of outstanding people and beautiful scenery. At that time, He Ji was about to lose his ability to maintain the normal flow of fortune. A day in heaven is a year on earth. The gods did not even notice his transformation. They did not know when they would notice the abnormality on earth.
Just then, a koi carp that had cultivated for a thousand years was about to leap over the Dragon Gate and enter the sea to transform into a dragon.
He Ji knew perfectly well that she could not succeed; even if she leaped over the Dragon Gate, she would not have enough luck to transform into a dragon.
He Ji was about to dissipate, with little power left in his body. He gave some to Long Jin, hoping that after she successfully transformed into a dragon, she could protect the people of Zuo Huai, and at least prevent the simultaneous onslaught of maritime disasters and droughts in this coastal prefecture.
Long Jin agreed and swore that as long as she was alive, the sea would never pose a threat to Zuo Huai.
With his last ounce of life, watching Long Jin transform into a dragon, He Ji used magic to conceal the strange phenomena in the heavens and earth before completely dissipating into the world.
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